Insectifuge fertilizer for cotton.



REUBEN G. WHITE, OF HIEHVIISTEAD, TEXAS.

INSECTIFUGE FERTILIZER FOR COTTON.

No Drawing.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23,- 1910.

Application filed June 22, 1909. Serial No. 503,632.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN G. WH1TE,.a citizen g f the United States, residing at Hempstehd, in the county of Waller, in the State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insectifuge Fertilizers for Cotton; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to.make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in insectifnge fertilizers for cotton.

It is well known that the two most serious pests with which the cotton producer has to contend are the boll weevil and the cotton worm; that the havoc which these insects have wrought is rapidly extending over'the entire cotton belt of this country and all efforts heretofore made by the Government and others to stay the progress of 'the insects have been unavailing. It is also well known that in case of both the boll weevil and cotton worm the parent beetle or moth stings the squares of the plant, and after feeding more or less upon the same deposits her eggs thereon, which, when hatched, form the larvae or worms which then bore into the heart of the boll and devour the interior of the seeds, as well as the cotton fibers, thus ruining the latter for textile usage.

The object of my present invention is to provide a comparatively cheap, simple and efiicient means for rendering the cotton plant immune from the attack of the above mentioned parasites.

My invention ,consists of a mechanically united compound, or composition of matter, composed of the following ingredients, combined substantially in the following proportions:

Per cent. Bicarbonate of soda 15 Nitrate ofsoda 15 Sulfate of copper .25

Crushed or ground decorticated cot-- ton seed 69.75

. The above composition when thoroughly ferred to the said adjacent hollows, whereby when the cotton. plants begin to grow and described composition the boll weevil and cotton worm donot work upon or injure the cotton plants. "I also find that the parent moth or insect will notfeed upon such plants or lay her eggs therein for the rearing of her young.

It is believedthat the sulfate of copper, which is a well known animal poison, is the active agent or ingredient of the composition which, when absorbed and incorporated into the fiber of the cotton plant, makes the same distasteful and ofiensive to the said parasites, and thereby renders the plants immune from their attack.

In using the ingredient of sulfate of copper I pulverize it to the last degree of fineness practical in order that it may be most effectually disseminated throughout the compound.

I have found that where my invention is thus used in moderate quantities it increases the yield one hundred per cent. and over. I alsofind after numerous experimental tests that when the third mentioned ingredient, the sulfate of copper, is omitted from the composition the compound formed of the remainin' ingredients forms a very high grade ertilizer of comparativel low cost which greatly promotes and growth and productiveness of many kinds of grains, vegetables, trees,flowers and other vegetable life. I

I have now pending in. the PatentOflice osters the v an application for a patent on theprocess 10 one per cent. and crushe matter consisting of a mixture of bicarbonton seed 69.75 per cent, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

Signed by me at Hempstead, Waller county, Texas,-this 18th day of June A. D. 1909.

REUBEN G. WHITE.

Witnesses:

KEET MGDADE, WA'I'IS P. DENNY- 

